Chocolate in Boston: JP Licks Ice Cream

Although the frozen yogurt may be what personally draws me to JP Licks, others are more impressed by their more decadent treats, like these ice cream cakes prominently displayed at the entrance.

Others are content with the ice cream itself. The friend who humored me at Teuscher and Hotel Chocolat was also with me for the JP Licks visit, and was uninterested in the frozen yogurt. She instead selected two ice cream flavors to sample: El Diablo and Mint Chocolate Lace.

The El Diablo, which she was kind enough to share with me, was chocolate based with cinnamon and cayenne pepper added in. She noted that the cayenne was more noticeable than the cinnamon, and stuck around far longer as part of the aftertaste. She shared some with me, and while I did detect a spicy cinnamon note, I agreed that the cayenne flavor stuck around longer. Both spices were complimentary to a creamy, well-balanced dark chocolate flavor. Clearly a winner all-around.

The Mint Chocolate Lace was a mint-based ice cream with ribbons of chocolate incorporated. In this ice cream, which my friend also generously let me sample, the mint base is far more prominent than the chocolate, and there is a strong mint aftertaste. The chocolate flavor is subtly delivered via small flecks of chocolate that crunch just a tad and then melt in your mouth. It was a nice, cool compliment to the fiery El Diablo flavor. Though the ice cream was richer than the frozen yogurt I got for myself, nostalgia will always lead me to select the frozen yogurt.

And then steal tastes of the ice cream from my friends. It works, OK?

Chocolate in Boston: JP Licks Frozen Yogurt

One institution known to college students throughout Boston is JP Licks, which serves up delicious ice cream and frozen yogurt.

True story: For the first three years I lived there, I only ate the frozen yogurt and didn’t realize they also had hard-packed ice cream. My excuses are that first, the ice cream is hidden behind a tiled counter while the soft serve frozen yogurt dispensers were prominently on display, and that second, everybody I went with always got frozen yogurt. They always have eight flavors anyway, no need to stray. On this visit, I got some nutrasweet-sweetened fat free chocolate frozen yogurt.

Although I remember a smooth, fluffy frozen yogurt, this particular batch was just a tad icy. Fortunately, there was a strong chocolate flavor, with a note of creaminess to compliment it, that wasn’t overwhelmed by sweetness. At 15 calories an ounce, it’s still a wonderful treat that you can burn off on the walk to and from the store.

Chocolate in Boston: Flour Bakery and Cafe

One new addition to Cambridge since I last visited is a branch of Flour Bakery and Café, which boasts a full lunch menu in addition to baked goods.

This branch is a mere block away from the lab I worked in as an undergrad, and I remain ambiguous about whether or not it would have been good for it to have been there. Pros: Great lunch available nearby, and tasty baked goods of all varieties available all day.

Cons: My wallet and waistline would probably have suffered. In order to determine if the tastiness would have been worth this impact on my finances and figure, I picked up a couple of cookies.

The box is simple and functional. No fluff. Inside, though, was a cookie that was just a bit fluffy: the Valrhona Double Chocolate Chip Cookie.

This cookie was not a dense cookie; rather, it was soft and airy with a little crunch at the edges. The walnuts within the cookie were ground to the perfect size such that there was a bit of crunch scattered throughout the cookie without any large chunks overwhelming the chocolate. Each bite had a bit of walnut in it, and also had some dark chocolate chunks, which were soft and will melt in your mouth (or on your fingers) immediately. Between the chocolate dough and the chocolate chunks, the chocolate flavor came through strongly, and the use of high-quality Valrhona dark chocolate was evident. Since the owner, Joanne Chang, has a cookbook out now, I may have to check it out to see if this recipe is included. I need to recreate these, or at least try to do so.

I also picked up a Valrhona Chocolate Chip Cookie for my friend Matt, who gave me a place to stay for the weekend.

He said it was delicious and appreciated the quality of the chocolate. Since he enjoyed it so quickly, I didn’t get a chance to sample a bite myself, but I trust that it was quite good. If just for these two cookies alone, regular visits to Flour would have been in order back in my days in Cambridge. It might become a regular destination on my Boston trips.

Boston: Chocolate Destination

I spent the weekend here:

Boston! More accurately, I spent most of my time in Cambridge, where I went to school.

There are some groups that I wish were around while I was in school.

In addition to numerous events on campus, including the alumni event I was in town for, there were a lot of people on the river in boats this weekend.

The Head of the Charles is a big event. An event almost as monumental as a chocolate crawl throughout Boston. The first stop was the Taza Chocolate factory store in Somerville.

Taza is a bean to bar chocolate maker that specializes in stone-ground chocolate, which is a typical chocolate preparation in Central and South America. They had several dark chocolate bars and chocolate discs, which came in varieties ranging from coffee to salt and pepper, which the staff kindly allowed me to sample. I picked up several of the discs and the bars.

After meeting up with a friend, I went to a shop I am more familiar with, one that I have written about before: Teuscher.

Since my friend cannot eat anything with gluten, I called that morning to inquire about gluten-free options, and the staff member who answered the phone gave me extensive details about what chocolates to purchase. A very nice touch. We also got outstanding service from the gentleman who was there that evening, who knew details about the sources for all the ingredients. His descriptions made the chocolates sound even more appealing, and my friend and I left with several bars and a box of mixed truffles.

My friend and I then moved along to a true chocolate destination: Hotel Chocolat, a London-based chocolatier that only has two stores in the United States.

We were immediately greeted by a staff member with a tray of samples. I thought this would be the highlight of this shop; it turns out that the highlight was the extensive variety of options available. Pralines, truffles, mousse creams, single origin bars…it was hard to decide what to get without overloading my luggage for the trip home. I settled on a bar, some truffles, some pralines, and some gingerbread “puddles” (their words).

While at these shops, I picked up a few treats for others. First, some super-dark chocolate for a blogger who is expecting an addition to the family soon.

Next, some milk chocolate for a DC-based friend who, like me, rarely has access to chocolate from these shops.

Finally, a get-well gift for a friend who has been quite ill and will appreciate the chocolate.

In addition to the chocolate shops, I checked out a bakery that wasn’t around when I lived in Cambridge: Flour Bakery and Café.

Flour, run by a Harvard graduate with a degree in Economics and Mathematics, has some baked goods that specify the brand of chocolate used. I had to make a stop.

Finally, and old standby needed attention. J.P. Licks, an ice cream shop that I’ve been visiting for over twelve years now.

That was a lot of chocolate for one weekend. One very good weekend. Reviews of specific locations are forthcoming.